tracy



(ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. A. TRACY.

DISPLAY FRAME.

No. 369,973. Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. A. TRACY. DISPLAY FRAME.

(MOdeIJ Patented Sept. 13, 1887.

UNITED STATES ATENT rrrcn.

EDWIN A. TRACY, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO WVILLIAM A. AIKEN, OF SAME PLACE.

FRAME.

SEPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,973, dated September 13, 1887.

A pplicalion filed February 25, 1887. Serial No. 228,799.

(Model) Paented in Canada July 5, l88i, No. SL423.

To all whom it may concern:

-Be it known that I, EDWIN A. TRACY, of Norwich, in the county of New London, State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Display-Frames, (a

part of the said invention having been patented to me in Letters Patent of Canada, dated July 5, 1886, and No. 24,428,) of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My improvement relates to the class of devices used most commonly in stores for supporting articles of wearing apparel upon [5 frames for the purpose of displaying the articles offered for sale; and the object of my invention is to providea rest especially adapted for shoes and the like articles of foot-wear, the said rest having improvements whereby it may be removably attached to a part of a display-frame, so called.

My invention consists in an improved rest shaped to the general outline of the sole of a shoe, in combination with a clamp for attaching the rest to the frame and a shoe-holding clamp.

It further consists ofa shoe-rest formed of wire bent to shape, in combination with a shoe-clamp and means whereby the rest may be attached to a display-frame, and also in a shoe-rest, in combination with several features relating to the means for attaching the same to a display-frame and for holding the shoe on a rest, as more particularly hereinafter de- 5 scribed, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a shoe-rest with a shoe-clamp. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is a view in cross-section of the same on linear x of Fig.

1. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the heel portion of one of my improved rests, showing several modified forms of the heel-clamp. Fig. 5 is a front view in elevation of a display-frame of the form preferred. Fig. 6 is a side View in elevation of the frame. Fig. 7 is a detail view showingapreferred form of myimproved shoe-rest and the devices for attaching it to the frame in plan and in edge views.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the sh oe-rest as a whole-that is, made of suitable material, usually metal-and has a flat bearing-surface, upon which to rest the sole and heel of a shoe. This rest is preferably made of wire bent to shape, substantially as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, one length of wire composing the outer frame, a, and the inner frame, a", being bent to the general outline of the outer frame, but somewhat smaller, so that when united to it, as by means of the clamping pieces or sleeves b, the whole structure is strengthened. If several lengths of wire are used, the ends of the pieces may be united within one or more of the clampingpieces near the center of the rest. In what may be called the shank portion a screwsocket, c, is provided, through which the screw passes that secures the rest to a collar or other support of a display-frame.

There is secured to the restusually to the sole-section and to the heel-sectiona shoeclamp, d, composed of spring-arms with upturned jaws lying on opposite sides of the frame and sprung inward in their normal position. The function of this shoe-clamp is to hold a shoe on the rest against any accidental displacement, and it thus permits the rest to be arranged at various angles of inclination with a horizontal plane, so that shoes supported on the rest may be effectively displayed. This shoe-clamp is preferably formed of wire clamped to the frame, as shown, the springarms d crossing each other and passing over the inner and beneath the outer arm,while the upturned jaws d may be turned slightly inward. The offset portion a of theinner frame may be so formed as to limit the outward play of the spring-arms by their contact with the downward-bent portion of the frame, so as to prevent an undue outward play of the jaws.

The spring-arms may be made of a single piece of wire fastened about midway of its length, either between the outer and inner frame, as shown in Fig. 1, or outside of the outer or inside of the inner frame, as shown in Fig. 4. In fact, the particular form and manner of securing the spring-clamp to the body of the rest is not essential ,so long as the grasping-j aws of the clamp are so located as to prop erly hold the shoe for display purposes. A shoe-rest of this description may be adjustably secured to a frame or a movable part of a frame by a screw passing through the screw socket 0 in the body of the rest; and in order to make room for the head of this attachingsorew, that portion of the frame in which the screw-socket is formed may be depressed below the general plane of the rest, as is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

In practice I prefer to make all the parts of the frame and clamp composing my improved shoe-rest of wire bent to shape and firmly held at points of contact by means of clamping devices or sleeves of sheet metal bent so as to embrace the several parts, and the parts may still further be fastened by means of brazing or soldering it at these points. This method of construction formsacheap, convenient,and extremely durable rest for the purposes in hand.

Such a rest as is above described is, by means of a screw, e, that passes through a screwsocket, c, secured to sliding collars e, that are fitted so as to slide upon the rods 70, except when secured as by means of the thumb-screws g. The frame is composed of upright standards 72, that are preferably tubular, and have hinged to their upper parts tubular supports i, each, in turn supporting horizontal rods 70. This frame and the improved rest, with parts. arranged and combined substantially as shown and described, presents a simple, convenient, and salable device for the display of shoes.

I claim as my improvement 1. In combination with the shoe-rest a, having a bearing-surface upon which to support the heel and sole of a shoe and a depressed center in which are formed the'screw-sockets c, the shoe-clamp 01, secured to the base of the rest and having the spring-arms with the upturned jaws 01, located near the toe, and also near the heel of the shoe-rest, all substantially as described.

2. The within-described rest or support a,

for displaying shoes, consisting of a frame work of wire bent to shape, with the several parts secured together at the points of contact, and the wireclamp d, secured to the said frame-Work and having the spring-arms that terminate in the upturned holding-jaws d located near the front part of the shoe-rest, and

also near the heel, in combination with an adjustable rest-support and the rod or bracket of the display-frame, all substantially as described.

3. The within-described shoe-rest a, consisting of the wire frames aofi, bent to shape and secured to each other by clamping-pieces b, and having the screw-sockets 0 formed in the depressedsh'ank portion of the frame, in combination with the within-described shoe-rest support, all substantiallyas described.

4.. In combination, the supporting frame with its cross-rods and shoe-rest support, a shoe-rest composed of the'outer frame, a, the inner frame, a with the screw-socket formed in a loop of the wire in a depressed part ofthe frame, and the shoe-clamp d, the whole made of wire bent to shape and clamped and fastened,as by means of clamping-plates orsoldering, all substantially as described.

5. In combination with a display frame formed of a series of rods adjustably connected to each other, as herein described, a series of collars adjustably located on' the horizontal rods of said frame, and a series of shoe-rests, each formed'with a depression for the reception of a clamping-screw adapted to engage said collars, substantially as herein described. 6. The improved shoe-rest composed of the wire frames a a bent to shape and secured to each other by clamps b, the frame a having the screw-sockets e, formed in the depressed central portion of the clamp, and the springclamps d, formed of wire bent to shape with projecting arms extending between the parts of the frame a, a, and having upturned holding-jaws d", all substantially as described.

EDWIN A. TRACY. 

